New pontoon owner

[Micahhaase]

First off this is the first pontoon I have ever owned and I did alot of looking before I bought this. I have kids and they love to tube and this weekend we did alot of it. It is a 1995 sweetwater pontoon with a 1995 90 horse mariner outboard on it. It was a one owner always keep inside and looks brand new and runs great. My question is Is this enough to kneeboard/ wakeboard? I dont know the speed but it seemed to go nicely through the water. How is the best way to plain them out? Any advice would be awesome thanks

 

[Silvertip]

Re: New pontoon owner

Pontoons don't plane. They do get up a bit they definitely do not plane in the strictest sense. Play with the trim and you may see a 1 or 2 MPH speed increase but nothing like a true planing hull.

 

[EGlideRider]

Re: New pontoon owner

+1 Silvertip

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

Well plain is the wrong word but you knew what i meant

 

[1961_lonestar_holiday]

Re: New pontoon owner

ive seen people tubing/sking behind pontoons with 40 horse motors.

 

[Kitchen363]

Re: New pontoon owner

My question is Is this enough to kneeboard/ wakeboard? I dont know the speed but it seemed to go nicely through the water. How is the best way to plain them out? Any advice would be awesome thanks

Do you have a ski tow bar?? That will help a ton for water sports on a pontoon.
Underskinning can help

The kids should have no problem kneeboarding,

I'm 6'3 and 230lbs and can ski very easy behind mine

 

[Dkrager]

Re: New pontoon owner

Perfect for knee boarding. Knee boarding is great around 15 mph. Not sure about wake boarding though.

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

Do you have a ski tow bar?? That will help a ton for water sports on a pontoon.
Underskinning can help

The kids should have no problem kneeboarding,

I'm 6'3 and 230lbs and can ski very easy behind mine

I dont have a ski tow bar even though i probably need one I have seen those ski ropes that hook to either side of hte motor and meet in the middle I thought about trying one of those out this weekend.

 

[RedneckRich]

Re: New pontoon owner

I have seen those ski ropes that hook to either side of hte motor and meet in the middle I thought about trying one of those out this weekend.

A friend of mine has one of those ropes your talking about, each end hooks into the back of the toons in the eye loops. He likes it, they ski a lot.

 

[kentuckyguy]

Re: New pontoon owner

I dont have a ski tow bar even though i probably need one I have seen those ski ropes that hook to either side of hte motor and meet in the middle I thought about trying one of those out this weekend.

We had one of those ropes with our old pontoon.. The only problem with hooking it to the pontoons is the rope is so close to the water.. Most of the time the rope will be in the center wake and you cant sling the tuber out to the sides.. My new boat has a ski/tow bar and its a world of difference...

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

Im guessing ill find out this weekend how it goes and let everyone know i just dont have 200 bucks for a pylon right now

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

Well i took it out this weekend and the ski rope with the swivel pulley worked GREAT. It really would swing you back and forth alot faster. It does slow down somewhat in the wake but nothing i cant handle. I do have another question though after about 2 hours of starting and stopping my starter will just start spinning instead of popping up and turning the motor. I know that low batteries will not put out enough to spin it up and after i raised it up a little it would go ahead and start the motor. My question is how do ppl run all day on a single charge? or do i need to buy another battery or an on-board charger? What has everyone else done to combat this?

 

[Dkrager]

Re: New pontoon owner

How old is the battery? You shouldn't have any problems like you are encountering. Or your charging system may not be working properly.

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

The guy i bought it from put a brand new interstate deep cycle battery in it the day i bought it and this is the 3 time its been on the water. When the starter did that i took it back to the bank and went to the camp site and within 2 hours on 2amp 12v charge it said charged again. How do i check the charging system or does it even have one? The outboard is a 1995 mariner 90 hp and looks brand new inside and runs great.

 

[lncoop]

Re: New pontoon owner

Sounds like your bendix may just be slightly seized to the shaft. Try spinning it by hand and see if you can feel it kind of break loose. Should barely be perceptible. If so, squirt a couple drops of 3in1 or comparable lubricant (no WD please) on the shaft, then spin the bendix up and down by hand a few times until it spins freely.

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

I have never thought about that. The lady that owned the boat before me bought it brand new and she kept it inside when not used and the only thing i can find wrong with the boat is the radio. I am pulling it out of storage tomorrow to clean it up and get it ready for lake arbuckle this weekend so I will def give that a try. Thank you

 

[Micahhaase]

Re: New pontoon owner

I've been going back reading alot of these posts and I'm now wondering if I paid too much for my pontoon? Its a 1995 sweetwater24 foot with a 1995 mariner. The boat is in excellent condition and runs great. I've been searching for a pontoon for a couple months now and they was either over my price range of 10k, or didnt have what i wanted. i.e. 24 feet and a 90 or bigger outboard. I paid 7500 for the boat motor and trailer but I see alot of ppl here probably got better deals

 

[lncoop]

Re: New pontoon owner

Maybe, maybe not. Pricing boats in the secondary market is a dicey proposition. There are so many factors to consider when attempting it; geography, comps, condition, brand, demand, etc., but in your case it's all academic at this point any way. You've got a nice barge that you will use to create invaluable family memories and the bank can't take it away from you. What else really matters? Don't beat yourself up over it partner, just enjoy your new rig. Happy boating.